2 Basic Weps Questions

People commonly 'test' gold items to try and find their mods...right? Does that work?

Oh and what is a skin, and where can I find a pic of the different skins so I can tell what I have?

I will never buy an Unidentified item from a stranger. It is too easy to test the mods (health being the easiest). The only reason to buy one is for unlocking mods for pvp. I never understand why ppl sell unid sheilds because it is very easy to test its stats and you cant get unlocks from them anyway!!

A skin is the look of your items, not sure about pics there must be some in here. Try a search.

As is often the case, there's a long thread about this on the site.

But, yes, many people do test unidentified weapons before selling. With a little experience it is easy to discover most mods (other than mod that have little effect on damage such as sundering).